Welcome to vulcanhammer.info, the site about Vulcan Iron Works, which manufactured the durable air/steam line of pile driving equipment for more than a century. Many of its products are still in service today, providing reliable performance all over the world. There’s a lot here, use the search box below if you’re having trouble finding something.

Search for:

Vulcan Offshore Tip #16: Serial Numbers

It is frequently desirable to ascertain the age of equipment for appraisal, evaluation and a variety of other reasons. As is customary in most construction equipment, we show below the year of manufacture and the serial number range for that particular year. As we approach one hundred years of serial numbers, we will on a yearly basis update this information.

YEAR

S/N RANGE

YEAR

S/N RANGE

YEAR

S/N RANGE

YEAR

S/N RANGE

1888

1/7

1913

771/832

1938

2504/2546

1963

48569/48667

1889

8/13

1914

833/912

1939

2547/2586

1964

48668/48777

1890

14/36

1915

913/994

1940

2587/2671

1965

48778/48855
FE665/FE1290

1891

37/45

1916

995/1041

1941

2672/2806

1966

FF1295/FF3050

1892

46/60

1917

1042/1115

1942

2807/2902

1967

FG3055/FG5475

1893

61/73

1918

1116/1197

1943

2903/2970

1968

FH5480/FH6000

1894

74/86

1919

1198/1231

1944

2971/3157

1969

FI6005/FI6555

1895

87/98

1920

1232/1259

1945

3158/3199

1970

FJ6700/FJ6755
GJ6760/GJ7175

1896

99/110

1921

1260/1321

1946

3200/3259

1971

GA7185/GA7670

1897

111/124

1922

1322/1374

1947

3260/3328

1972

GB7675/GB8200

1898

125

1923

1375/1431

1948

3329/3404

1973

GC8205/GC8690

1899

126/148

1924

1432/1517

1949

3405/3464

1974

GD8695/GD9270

1900

149/157

1925

1518/1591

1950

3465/3571

1975

GE9275/GE9720

1901

158/194

1926

1592/1665

1951

3572/3663

1976

GF100/GF470

1902

195/231

1927

1666/1777

1952

3664/3747

1977

See Note Below

1903

232/241

1928

1778/1906

1953

3748/3826

1978

1904

242/287

1929

1907/2039

1954

3827/3898

1979

1905

288/352

1930

2040/2164

1955

3899/4012

1980

1906

353/411

1931

2165/2258

1956

4013/4214

1981

1907

412/461

1932

2259/2300

1957

4215/4363

1982

1908

462/507

1933

2301/2324

1958

4364/4488

1983

1909

508/548

1934

2325/2364

1959

4489/4623

1984

1910

549/604

1935

2365/2379

1960

4624/4747

1985

1911

605/690

1936

2380/2450

1961

4748/48335

1986

1912

691/770

1937

2451/2503

1962

48336/48568

1987

Letter

Digit

A

1

B

2

C

3

D

4

E

5

F

6

G

7

H

8

I

9

J

0

Note: This tip, issued in 1976, was never followed up on; there were never any updates for the offshore tips (there was one in 1977 for the onshore ones; the information from that one is included above.) In fact, by the 1980’s Vulcan took this tip out of its distribution list in fear of people knowing the number of Vulcan hammers outstanding.

However, such updates were unnecessary, because in 1965 Vulcan adopted its final system of serial numbers for hammers. This system gave the year of the hammer’s manufacture without having to consult the factory. All of this type of serial number is in the format of

XX-YYYY

where “XX” represents the year code in two letters; they translate into the last two digits of the year as shown in the table on the left. Thus, for a hammer with the serial number prefix “GF” this translates into “76”, thus the hammer was made in 1976. The implementation of these numbers can be seen above.

If you would like more information on this subject, or on a specific hammer serial number, you can contact us.

Below is the list of hammers for Serial Number 48 through 2203, for hammers in the years 1892-1931. (That includes S/N 463 which was still operational as of 2005, and S/N 290, which was still operational in 2008.)